Low-Cost Automatic Filling Machine Based on the 8-Bit

Microcontroller for the Fish Canning Process

M. J. Wibowo

, S. Kautsar

, R. E. Rachmanita

, B. Hariono

2,*

, R. Wijaya

, A. Brilliantina

and M. F. Kurnianto

Department of Engineering Politeknik Negeri Jember, Indonesia

Department of Agricultural Technology, Politeknik Negeri Jember, Indonesia

Keyword: Filling Machine, Microcontroller, Automation, Fish Canning.

Abstract: The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) report shows that the national fish consumption rate

in 2020 is 56.39 kg/capita. This figure increased by 3.47% compared to the previous year, which was 54.5

kg/capita. Domestic market needs include fresh fish and canned fish. The considerable market potential of

canned fish products opens up business opportunities for fish canning production for household

consumption. Through the blue economy program, the government also encourages the maximum

utilization of fishery products. Politeknik Negeri Jember, a vocational institution, also represents

government programs in various policies, one of which is the Teaching Factory Canning program, which

produces canned fish from marine catches. Teaching factory Fish Canning has machines to produce large-

scale canned fish with 425 mL packaging. With a large production capacity (1200 cans per production

process), the entire production process must be carried out precisely and efficiently. If a processing delay is

too long, it has the potential for bacterial/microbial activation in canned fish. One process that causes a

holding time that is too long (about 60 minutes) is the process of filling the sauce. Sauce filling that is done

manually also can cause the inefficiency of raw materials. This research developed an automatic filling

machine based on a gravity system. The filling system has advantages in terms of speed, good filling

accuracy, and ease of maintenance. The filling machine uses microcontroller-based precision timing with

electric valve actuators. The machine is integrated with the canning system at the Politeknik Negeri

Jember's TEFA Canning and is expected to shorten the holding time.

1 INTRODUCTION

TeFa Fish Canning at Politeknik Negeri Jember is a

business unit that produces canned fish for

consumption. Based on the results of study

(Virgantari F, Koeshendrajana S, Arthatiani F Y,

Faridhan Y E, Wihartiko F D 2022), the resulting

map of fish consumption shows that in most

provinces in Indonesia the level of consumption,

participation rate, and level of fish expenditure

is quite high. The household consumption patterns

in Indonesia are grouped into consumption of

fresh seawater fish at 22.10 kg/capita/year,

fresh/brackwater fish at 16.75 kg/capita/year, fresh

shrimp at 9.58 kg/capita/year and fish processed by

4.22 kg/capita/year. If the household is an upper-

middle income class, it will increase the demand for

canned processed fish (Arthatiani F Y, Kusnadi N dan

Harianto 2018). In a previous study(Suryaningsih W,

Bakri A, Kautsar S, Hariono B, Brilliantina A, Wijaya R

2022), the research team designed an exhausting

device that utilizes hot steam from an autoclave to

sterilize fish in 115mL cans. Utilizing steam heat

from the autoclave also streamlines the electricity

requirement for the production process by 30%.

Teaching factory Fish Canning besides producing

canned fish in 115mL packaging also produces

large-scale canned fish in 425mL packaging. The

increase in production capacity compared to before

also impacted the need for labor for the production

process, even with large-scale production machines

(1200 cans per production process).

The duration of the sterilization process with the

canning process, which must be under 30 minutes (to

prevent bacterial/microbial activation)( Holdsworth S D

1997)-( Speranza D 2013), makes it difficult for workers

to work optimally, especially in the sauce filling

process. The sauce filling process is still done

manually. Sterilization process is aimed to inactivate

potentially harmful microorganisms. To that purpose

450

Wibowo, M., Kautsar, S., Rachmanita, R., Hariono, B., Wijaya, R., Brilliantina, A. and Kurnianto, M.

Low-Cost Automatic Filling Machine Based on the 8-Bit Microcontroller for the Fish Canning Process.

DOI: 10.5220/0011812200003575

In Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Applied Science and Technology on Engineering Science (iCAST-ES 2022), pages 450-455

ISBN: 978-989-758-619-4; ISSN: 2975-8246

the packaged food is subject to a time/temperature

profile. In the canning industry such profiles are

chosen based on the experience of the operator (Vilas

C, Alonso A A 2018). The design an automatic filling

machine, with a filler mechanism using a screw-

driven piston technology, where the thread is rotated

by an electric motor integrated with the timer. This

machine is equipped with an easy charging method

that is operated using only 1 button. the productivity

of performance machine has been increased twice

(Syah S S, Maulana M I, Ainurroji A F, Ardiansyah M R,

Reynaldi A 2018). Automatic control systems can

control quality of fish and fish products. Automated

systems receive, freeze, sort, cut, wash, salt, dry,

smoke, press, cool, package and store fish and fish

products (Komlatsky V I, Podoinitsyna T A, Verkhoturov

V V and Kozub Y A 2019). In addition to causing a

holding time that is too long, it also has the potential

for cross-contamination of canned fish sauce.

Therefore, in this study, a prototype automatic sauce

filling machine will be developed to help optimize the

production process of 425mL packaged fish.

Automatic sauce filling is designed based on an

integrated microcontroller. The texture of the sauce is

not too runny. It will cause reading problems if the

flowmeter sensor passes it. Therefore, a gravity-based

filling system will be used. This research is expected

to increase efficiency in the fish production process at

TEFA canning.

2 RELATED WORK

In industry, the filling process can be carried out in

several ways, either manually, semi-automatically,

or automatically (

Gharte M 2016). The design of the

filling machine also varies depending on the material

and volume used. In 2020, (

Zhang S K, Ji J and Li Y

H) designed an automatic filling machine for water

filling with a weight sensor reference. This filling

machine is made based on PLC. However, the

weight sensor-based filling machine design requires

recalibration for different materials. This system will

be difficult to implement in the fish canning process,

where the condition of the cans already has its

weight (filled with fish), and the sauce's viscosity

varies according to the taste used. (

Zhang D and Li S

Design) also made a filling machine design regarding

the flow meter sensor. In low viscosity liquid

conditions, the flow meter can work well. However,

if the viscosity of the liquid is high, it can interfere

with the flow meter's performance.

In 2018, (

Qiao Q and Zhang J 2009) made a filling

machine design by utilizing the rotation of the motor.

This system has the advantage that it can be

controlled digitally with a closed-loop control system.

However, the maintenance and operation of this

system are relatively more difficult. For this reason,

the proposing team will develop a sauce filling system

using a compressed air system in this study.

According to (Speranza D, 2013), the piston filling

system has the advantages of this filling technology:

high filling speed and accuracy in terms of

volume/dose. However, additional equipment such as

an air compressor is required for operation. This

system can be used to fill any container, either in

glass or PET or cans.

This study used a chamber with an electric valve

faucet at the bottom. This system is integrated with a

microcontroller so that it can work automatically. The

design of the filling machine will be adapted to the

mini exhausting machine made in previous research at

TeFa Canning. The system will fill the canned sauce

in batches according to the input from the operator.

3 SYSTEM DESIGN

The filling tube is made with a capacity of 30 liters.

The material used is food-grade stainless 304. The

design of the automatic filling machine is shown in

Figure 1. The top is a cylindrical tube with a

diameter of 30cm and a height of 50cm. The bottom

is a cylindrical support leg with a height of 50cm.

The lower end of the cylinder is designed to be

conical in shape with a 0.5-inch pipe connection.

The output pipe is connected to a 220 VAC

electrical valve of 304 stainless.

a) Front View

1. Specification

1. Tube

cover

2. Panel

Control

3. Tube

4. Pump

5. Beam

Figure 1: Low-cost filling machine design.

Low-Cost Automatic Filling Machine Based on the 8-Bit Microcontroller for the Fish Canning Process

451

b) Side View

2. Specification

1. Tube

cover

2. Panel

Control

3. Tube

4. Pump

5. Beam

Figure 1: Low-cost filling machine design (cont.).

An electrical panel is mounted on the bottom of

the cylinder. The panel contains controller

components, sensors, and drivers for the actuator.

The controller uses an ATMega328 microcontroller.

The sensors are push buttons, toggle switches, and

VL53L0X proximity sensors. A 5volt relay driver

activates the actuator. A 220 VAC indicator light is

connected in parallel to the electrical valve. This

light indicates if the valve is in the active position.

The system block diagram of the filling machine is

shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Block Diagram System.

The automatic filling machine has 2 working

modes: working mode and delay setting mode. The

operating mode is the mode for charging

automatically. At the same time, the delay setting

mode is a mode to set the length of time for the

valve to be active. The electric valve can be

activated in 2 ways, by using a push button or based

on the VL53L0X proximity sensor readings. The

valve activation delay can be adjusted flexibly by

the operator. The valve activation delay is stored in

the EEPROM so that the data is retained even when

the controller power supply is turned off. Figure 3 is

a controller work flowchart.

For setting the valve activation delay, it is done

through several steps. First, the toggle switch is

activated. After the toggle switch is active, the

controller will enter the delay setting mode. To set

the length of the delay, by pressing the button. Once

the desired water volume is reached, the button can

be released. Then the toggle switch can be disabled

again. The microcontroller will store the delay in the

EEPROM. The delay range that can be stored is

10mS – 250 seconds (+-4 minutes). 2 EEPROM

addresses are used to store data >255. The

microcontroller's timer feature is used to obtain

precise results during storage and charging. The

timer one feature is a timing feature that utilizes the

timer register so the delay timing can be more

accurate. Here is the equation for EEPROM storage

according to the stored data:

EEPROM(10)hundreds = delay / 100 (1)

EEPROM(11)dozens = delay % 100 (2)

For delay readings based on 2 EEPROM addresses,

the following equation is used:

delay = (EEPROM(10)*100)+( EEPROM(11)) (3)

START

Read Toggle

Switch Mode

Mode: On/Off?

STOP

Read Button

Actuator

Button: On/

Off?

Read Button

Actuator

Counter Delay

Button: On/

Off?

Read Button

Actuator

Button: On/

Off?

Aktuator On

Read Button

Actuator

Button: On/

Off?

Saving delay

Read

EEPROM

Aktuator Off

Read

Distance

<10cm?

Figure 3: Flowchart filling machine controller.

iCAST-ES 2022 - International Conference on Applied Science and Technology on Engineering Science

452

4 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Hardware Realization

All components are made of 304 stainless metal

according to food grade standards. Figure 4 is a

display of the filling machine that has been made.

When empty, the machine weighs about 3kg.

Although it is made for fish sauce in cans, the filling

machine can also be used for various liquids such as

milk, soy, etc (Kurnianto M F, Wibowo M J, Hariono B,

Wijaya R and Brilliantina A 2020).

Figure 4: Automatic filling machine hardware.

4.2 Testing Result

After the process of making the tool, the testing

process is carried out. The test is carried out by

storing data and measuring the amount of liquid

released according to the delay stored in the

EEPROM. Measurements were made using 150cc &

500cc measuring cups. The first test is carried out

with the liquid position in the maximum volume

(approximately 30L). Figure 5 is a comparison photo

between the volume during storage and the volume

when charging. It can be seen that the filling result is

the same as the volume during storage. Table 1 is the

data from the controller performance test results on

the automatic filling machine. To test the EEPROM

function, deactivate the power on the filling

machine, then retrieve data again. Based on the test,

the filling volume remains the same, so it can be

concluded that the charging data has been stored in

the microcontroller memory.

(4)

According to the fluid pressure equation in

equation 4, the liquid level affects the pressure at the

outlet. The higher volume of the liquid makes, the

greater the pressure at the outlet. It will affect the

velocity of the fluid when it exits. Because the

filling machine uses the delay principle, the height

can affect the filling volume. Therefore, the filling

volume was measured based on the height of the

liquid in the chamber. Table 2 is the test result using

a 125cc data store.

(a) (b)

Figure 5: a) Volume saving b) Volume filling.

Table 1: Testing data of the same volumes.

Data saving Measurements Result

250cc

1250cc

2250cc

3250cc

4250cc

5250cc

6250cc

250cc

(after power

shutdown)

1250cc

2250cc

3250cc

4250cc

5250cc

6250cc

Table 2: Testing data of the different volumes.

Volume Measurement Result

125cc

Volume 15

liter

1125cc

2125cc

3125cc

4125cc

5125cc

6125cc

125cc

Volume 5

liter

1110cc

2110cc

3110cc

4110cc

5110cc

6110cc

Based on the test data in table 2, the results

obtained that the measurement volume decreases

according to the decrease in the liquid level in the

chamber. Therefore, treatment can be carried out by

maintaining the volume of the chamber, such as

Low-Cost Automatic Filling Machine Based on the 8-Bit Microcontroller for the Fish Canning Process

453

using a stainless floating valve from the main

chamber. The next test was tested using sauce

ingredients at 80 degrees (

Wijaya R and Hariono B

2020). Figure 6 is the result of filling the sauce in the

cans used for fish canning. The results of the sauce

filling matched the storage data.

Figure 6: Filling test.

Table 3: The cost of making a filling machine.

Filling machine Electric Valve

Filling machine

piston

No Items

Price

(IDR)

Price (IDR)

Stainless steel

304 chamber

1.250.000

2 Valve electric 750.000

3 Microcontoller 250.000

Panel &

electrical

components

350.000

Total 2.600.000

20.300.000

(marketplace)

The cost of making a filling machine in this

study is shown in table 3. Compared with piston

filling sold in the market, the filling machine is 7

times cheaper. Piston filling with a piston system

also requires an additional compressor engine.

Filling machines with electric valves is also lower in

terms of electricity usage

5 CONCLUSION

Based on the research that has been done, the

automatic filling machine can work well. From the

experiments that have been carried out, the machine

can fill liquids accurately and stably. By using an 8-

bit microcontroller, as well as the use of an electric

valve, the cost of making the device can be more

affordable. When compared to the price of a piston-

based filling machine, the manufacturing cost is

30% cheaper. It is just that the operation of a valve-

based filling machine needs to maintain the volume

of the chamber when filling.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial

support of this work by grants from PNBP,

Politeknik Negeri Jember. The author also thanked

the P3M and Information Technology Department,

Politeknik Negeri Jember, which has provided

support and assistance in completing this research.

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